Street concerns

I DON'T know what the city is doing with Linden Street, but from Sprigg Street to West End Boulevard is a mess. You cannot get an ambulance down there, let alone a car, to take you to the hospital. Our telephone wires have been cut -- accidentally, of course, but that doesn't help us. What will happen to the south side next?

Need hepatitis help

THERE ARE programs in place to help low-income HIV patients get the medicine they need. The medication to treat hepatitis C costs $3,000 a month for one year. There are many low-income people here with the hepatitis C virus who are not getting the treatment they need. People are going to die if something isn't done. We need to look at this.

Mexico's problems

I AGREE with your editorial about the situation in Mexico. The leaders there have failed their people with corrupt government. They have let their people down by not taking care of them. That's why they're trying to leave the country.

Waste of money

I AM wondering why the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority cannot start a bus business on its own without paying $360,000 for a taxi company. Cape Girardeau needs more transit service. But I think this is a big waste of money.

Fox's disgrace

I SEE where President Fox of Mexico toured presidential libraries to get ideas on how to build a monument to himself. His people are trying to escape, facing starvation and death just to make a living, and he's wanting to spend money to honor himself. This is a disgrace.

Taxing concern

WHILE THINKING about all the lost income-tax contributions from illegal immigrant workers, something I heard on a Fox News discussion made me reconsider that loss. If the immigrant workers become legal as far as employment, most of them will qualify for the earned-income tax credit! We could slide into bankruptcy even faster then. The credit was a good idea when it was instituted. The main purpose was to encourage single mothers to discard their dependence on welfare and go to work. Now, as so many of our good ideas in this country do, it has grown to be one of the largest welfare programs in the country. It has encouraged people to work, but also encouraged them to know when to stop working to obtain the maximum amount of government money at tax time, often amounting to several thousand dollars more than the taxes they paid in. Perhaps we cannot afford to force illegal immigrants to work legally and pay taxes.

Railroad jobs

EVERYONE IN this country is concerned over jobs even when unemployment is as low as it is today. I hear all the time about this or that politician who wants to increase jobs. Now Union Pacific is wanting to increase train trips, and people are complaining. With at least two people on each train, the increase would mean anywhere between 20 and 80 people working on the railroad each day. There are many railroaders in our area, and this increase of train runs would help them out in job security. Also, if UP wants to increase train runs by such a large margin, it must mean the economy is really booming.

Thanks a veteran

HAVE YOU thanked a veteran today? I'm proud to be a veteran, and I thank all of the others veterans for saving this country of ours. Thanks for giving it your all, and God bless you all.

Broken system

SCOTT COUNTY Sheriff Rick Walter's comment that adults using drugs in the presence of children is "kind of a form of abuse" is correct up to a point. Parents or guardians who use drugs, whether in the presence of the children or not, are abusing those children. Drugs affect the mind, and using drugs illegally also sends a message to the children. When a mother addicted to meth is not considered an abusive situation or when a mother smoking pot with her two children can keep her children while grandparents fight for custody for over a year, then, yes, we can say something is wrong with the system that should be protecting our children.

Arrogant politicians

HOW ARROGANT of our politicians to suggest we slow down to save fuel. They fly around in jets and are driven around in limousines but refuse to open up Alaska or the West Coast for oil exploration. How about allowing oil companies to build more refineries? No, it's easier for them to do nothing and blame us for their mistakes.

Thanks to soldiers

A HUGE thank you and welcome home to all the soldiers who have already returned, are returning and will return. When we see you in your uniform, we wonder if you served in war. We look at you with pride knowing you did something to help out our country and our world. We run a million different ways to tell you thanks in our head and wonder if we should walk up to you and shake your hand to say thanks. What we usually do is walk on by, regretting that we never said thanks or welcome home. So as you walk or drive through town, know that even if we do not pat you on the back, shake your hand or say thanks, we do feel great pride and thanks in our hearts. Next time I see one of you, I will try to do better.

Wasted dollars

I CAN'T believe that the Cape Girardeau City Council says it is being fiscally responsible by not opting for a sales-tax holiday. The city just spent over $72,000 on a sign, a few bushes and sod on one exit ramp on the interstate. What a waste of tax dollars.

Cape tea party

IF I remember correctly, the Boston Tea Party was brought about because of King George's 2 percent tax on tea. Just imagine how enraged the colonists would have been if King George tried to take part of the mercantile's property and give it to the local eating establishment. It's time for people in Cape Girardeau to take a stand. The Lichteneggers are having their property stolen from them and given to Hardee's. The council should not be able to steal the property owner of an individual and hide behind the eminent-domain clause of the Constitution. This injustice needs to be corrected. Tea, anyone?